Google Fiber Hits a Double in Kansas

Two city council meetings produced two more franchise deals for Google Fiber this week.

On Monday, both Mission Hills and Fairway, Kan., approved Google Fiber to build out a network that will deliver its mix of 1 Gbps broadband and subscription TV services. As has been the case in other recent approvals, Google Fiber said in a blog post that it will fire up the planning for the coming build out right away, but has not set a timetable for when services will launch.

The latest approvals help to expand Google Fiber’s clustering strategy in Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan., where it will face off with incumbent providers AT&T, Time Warner Cable, Comcast, and Surewest Communications, among others.

Last week, the city of Roeland Park, Kan., awarded a franchise to Google Fiber. Others that are also on board include Merriam, Leawood, Prairie Village, Mission, Shawnee, and Olathe, Kan.; and Lee’s Summit, Gladstone, and Grandview, Mo.

Google Fiber recently connected six more “fiberhoods” in Kansas (Piper Schools, Delaware Ridge, Open Door, Plaza at Speedway, Stony Point, and Melrose), as well as the first two in Missouri (Greenway Fields and Wornall Homestead), according to an updated build out schedule.

Google Fiber announced last week that customers in 44 additional fiberhoods in Kansas and Missouri can now choose their service plans.

Outside of K.C., Google Fiber is preparing to launch services on the iProvo network in Provo, Utah, later this year, and to start connecting homes in Austin, Texas, by mid-2014. According to local reports in Austin, community organizations in the area that are interested in getting a free connection from Google Fiber have less than three weeks to apply. The city’s Community Connection Program will award 100 sites free access through the year 2023.